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The Blame Game on Herman Cain

1:48 p.m. | Updated The game of whom to blame for Herman Cain’s mess is in full swing in Washington. But no one seems to agree — not even supporters of Mr. Cain.

An e-mail from a pro-Cain political action committee on Thursday morning assailed what the group’s director called the “radical left” for organizing a smear against the former pizza king.

“This is what the Left always does. They hated Clarence Thomas. They hated Allen West when he ran in 2010. And now they hate Herman Cain,” wrote Jordan Gehrke, the campaign director for AmericansforHermanCain.com. “The Left spews such hatred at black conservatives because they know that if the G.O.P. ever breaks the Democrat stranglehold on the black vote, they are DONE as a party.”

Of course, that came on the same day that Mr. Cain and his chief of staff were blaming the right — not the left — for their troubles.

Mr. Cain and Mark Block, his top aide, blamed Rick Perry, the governor of Texas — who is not a card-carrying member of the “radical left” — for orchestrating the smear. They demanded an apology.

Without any direct evidence, Mr. Perry’s aides noted that the board of directors of the National Restaurant Association, where the sexual harassment was to have taken place, at one time included members of the Marriott family — prominent Mormons who generally are supporters of Mr. Romney.

Aha! they said. Evidence of the possibility that maybe Mr. Romney’s aides were behind the story.

Not true, said the Romney camp. (And, as it turns out, the Marriotts appear to have left the association’s board in 1995, before the events would have taken place.)

It would be logical, of course, if someone decided to blame President Obama for the entire mess. Alas, that would be too perfect for this story.

“A friend of the Cain campaign believes a National Restaurant Association employee out of the Chicago office leaked the story to the Perry campaign via information and influence from Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office,” the story says.

The paper provides nothing to back up that charge, which appears to stem from the fact that the restaurant association holds its annual convention in Chicago. The headline of the story: “Source — Rahm Emanuel Involved in Cain Sexual Harassment Accuser Attacks.”

Chris Mather, a spokeswoman for Mr. Emanuel, writes in to offer the following comment on the Washington Times speculation: “This is absurd. It’s completely false and totally absurd.”

Rush Limbaugh, the conservative radio host, blames the harassment reports on liberals and the news media who insist they “own” Hispanics and other minorities. But he also suspects Mr. Romney, noting that a former association executive once gave $1,000 to Mr. Romney’s campaign.

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